disc\/disk<\/strong>: Generally, disc is considered a more British spelling of this word, while disk is the American spelling.\u00a0 This word is generally used to refer to computer and music storage devices and instruments.\u00a0 The term Compact Disc (CD) is a trademark word and thus this spelling of disc is used both in the United States and Britain.<\/p>\n enquiry\/inquiry<\/strong>: Many in Britain indicate a difference between inquiry (which means a formal inquest) and enquiry (which means the act of questioning). In the United States, the word inquiry is more commonly used and enquire is not used.\u00a0 The major exception to this usage in the United States is the name of a magazine called the National Enquirer<\/em>.<\/p>\n ensure\/insure<\/strong>: In Britain the word ensure (which means to make sure) has a different meaning from the word insure (which means to guarantee or protect against something, for example home insurance). In America the spellings of ensure and insure are interchangeable when you are using the word to mean: to make sure of something.\u00a0 But in some instances in American English ensure may imply that there is a guarantee and insure sometimes stresses the taking of necessary measures beforehand.<\/p>\n gray\/grey<\/strong>: In the United States gray is the more common spelling of this color word, while\u00a0grey, is more common in Britain.<\/p>\n insurance\/assurance<\/strong>: Both of these words are associated with risk and the transfer of risk by paying money to help plan for unexpected damage or change. American English speakers generally use the word insurance to cover all risks in this category, for example: life insurance or fire insurance. British English speakers use the word assurance to refer to risk associated with certainty, such as death (death is inevitable) and they used insurance to refer to risk and uncertainty, such as fire insurance (a fire in a house is uncertain).<\/p>\n programme\/program<\/strong>: In British English, program is the common spelling for computer programs, but for all other meanings of this word the spelling that should be used is programme.\u00a0 In American English program is the only spelling for this word.<\/p>\n tonne\/ton<\/strong>: In Britain the word tonne refers to the metric unit (1000\u00a0kilograms).\u00a0 In the United States this same unit of measure is called a ton or a metric ton.<\/p>\n Because these and other spelling differences are so much a part of the grammar of these two cultures, spell check programs for writing documents and emails have to be created differently for the two different groups of English speakers.\u00a0 Since I am typing this in America, all of the British versions of these words are considered misspelled on my computer, while the American versions of these words are considered correct.<\/p>\n If you are looking for more resources to learn English<\/a> be sure to check out all that Transparent Language<\/a> has to offer.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" You may have noticed that British English and American English speakers not only have different accents, but they also have different ways of spelling some of the same words.\u00a0 This certainly can be confusing at times, even for me, which is why I thought I would take the time to explain some of these…<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/english\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/31\/2012\/07\/flag1.jpg\")